Participating in the Divine Life

Between Catholics and non-Catholic Christians, the question, “How are we saved?” comes up quite often. Mainline Protestants answer this crucial questions with the list of “solas” created by Martin Luther: sola grazia, sola fides – by grace alone and by faith alone. Catholic answer the question differently, but not in the way that Protestants often assume. Catholic teaching does not hold that we get to heaven as a reward for doing good works. In fact, Catholics should agree that we are saved by grace alone – if grace is properly understood. We are saved only by God’s Divine Life in our souls. We are saved only through an intimate relationship with God. We are saved only by becoming members of God’s covenantal family. Defined this way, we are saved by grace alone.

However, relationships are not one-way propositions. Grace and the relationship it initiates demand a response. A soul that will not respond to God’s love and that will not participate in the relationship cannot be saved. As St. James says, “Faith without works is dead” (see James 2:17-24). Dead things do not have the power to save us and do not go to heaven. While even the ability to respond to God’s grace is a gift of grace (i.e. human beings are incapable of having a relationship with God without first being divinized), we have to make the deliberate choice to participate in our relationships with God. In fact, elevated by grace our relationship with God takes on many qualities of a human relationship.

This statement is startling to most non-Catholic Christians who are used to references to Luther and Calvin indicating that human beings are utterly depraved and that grace covers our

depravity like snow covers a pile of dung – without healing our depravity. Yet, the idea of participation in God’s Divine Life – of cooperating with grace – is very Biblical.

• God has Adam name the animals, an act of Creation that gave each animal its identity. Did God need Adam to name the animals?
• God asks Adam and Eve to tend the Garden of Eden. You would think their work would be unnecessary. After all, they lived in paradise. Certainly God did not need their help. However, God invited them to tend the garden so they could participate in God’s act of Creation. Did God need help keeping the Garden of Eden?
• Did God need Noah to build the Ark and collect the animals in order to save humanity?
• Did God need Moses to lead the Hebrew people out of Egyptian slavery?
• Did God need Joshua to conquer the Holy Land?

Obviously, the answer to these questions is “no.” God does not need humans to help him. Yet, God called human beings to act on His behalf. So why is Sacred Scripture so full of stories wherein human beings carry out the will of God?

The fact is that God does not want us to relate to Him as slaves to a master. He wants us to relate to Him as friends, as family (“I no longer call you slaves but friends” John 15;15). The Catechism of the Catholic Church frequently uses the term “filial love” to describe the Covenantal relationship, a term indicating the love between a parent and a child. The Bible – Old Testament and New Testament – uses very intimate language to describe the same relationship. Humanity is espoused to God; we are sons and

daughters of Him; and we are called God’s friends. Of course, even without sin such an intimate relationship between human beings and God would be impossible. The gap between the Creator and the created is too great for true intimacy and friendship. The only way human beings could be enabled to have such a relationship with God is if they were in some way to become equals to Him. If grace only covered our sins, it would not be sufficient to fulfill the Biblical vision of our relationship with God.

So, how do we cooperate with grace and participate in God’s Divine Life? Generally speaking, we participate in God’s divine life most perfectly when we love. More specifically, we can cooperate with divine grace by . . .

• Meditation and contemplation draw us closer to the heart of God.
• Intercessory prayer does not change God’s mind – it is God’s invitation to participate in His providence.
• Acts of charity share God’s love with other people.
• Our work cooperates with God’s power in Creation to serve humanity.
• Living out our vocation – as ordained priests or as lay people – is cooperation with God’s plan for shaping us in love.
• We participate in the three-fold mission of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King.
• Procreation cooperates with God to create a unique human soul that will live forever!
• We cooperate with grace when we work toward conversion and when we build our character through virtue.
• Our suffering can be united to Christ’s suffering on the cross so that, through His power, it may contribute to our salvation and the salvation of others.

Isn’t God awesome? Not only has He given us all creation as a sign of His love for us, and not only has He given us Himself for our salvation, he wants us to truly be His sons and daughters so He invites us to participate in His activities and in His Divine Life.